Alarm set and stop mechanism



P 6, 1950 H. s. BRAZEE EI'AL ALARM SET AND STOP MECHANISM Filed July 5, 1946 F/GI \\\ INVENTOR3 HENRY s. BRAZEE moms R. ULAF r j ATTX Patented Sept. 26, 1950 ALARM SET AND STOP MECHANISM Henry S. Brazee, Terryville, and Thomas R. Clafley, Waterbury, Conn, assignors to The United States Time Corporation, Waterbury, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application July 3, 1946, Serial No. 681,334

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates in general to alarm clocks and is more particularly concerned with a mechanism for setting the alarm thereof and conditioning it to function at a predetermined time, which mechanism is also operable to stop the alarm.

It has been the common practice in the past to provide an alarm clock with one button or knob on the back thereof which may be turned to condition the alarm for operation at a predetermined time. It has also been the usual practice to provide a second button or knob either on the back of the clock or on the top thereof which may be moved to one position for allowing the alarm to be operated at the pre determined time and which may be moved to a second position for preventing the alarm from operating.

It is the object of this invention to provide a single button or knob on the back of the clock for performing both the functions of setting the alarm and also conditioning or stopping the alarm.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a single manually operable means on the back of an alarm clock which may be moved between two positions in either of which positions said means may be operated to set the alarm and in one of which positions said alarm" will be prevented from operating.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a single stair rotatably mounted between the frame plates of the clock which may be moved longitudinall between two positions in either of which positions the staif may be rotated to set the alarm and in one of which positions the alarm will be prevented from operating. This invention further contemplates providing a means for resiliently holding said staff in each of its two positions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a single operating knob on the back of an alarm clock for performing both the functions of setting the alarm and stopping-the alarm and to provide a means whereby said knob may be rotated in only one direction for alarm setting purposes.

These and other objects will more fully appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment of the invention, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view thereof, partially in section, and

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with part of one of the frame plates broken away for clearness of illustration.

Referring now to the drawings, the usual frame plates of the clock are indicated at H) and [2. The staff [4 carrying the alarm escape wheel l6 and the escape wheel pinion I8 is mounted between. the frame plates 10 and I2 in the usual manner. The alarm hammer and verge 20 is mounted on a staff 22, also mounted between the frame plates l0 and I2, and is oscillated in the usual manner b the alarm escape wheel l6 forming a part of the alarm train of the clock. The alarm escape wheel has a pin 24 riveted thereto for a purpose which will be presently described.

A staff 26 is rotatably and slidably mounted between frame plates I0 and I2 and has fixed to one end thereof the pinion 28 which engages the alarm set wheel 30. The connection between the alarm set wheel 30 and the time train of the clock may be of any usual or desired structure whereby at a predetermined time, the alarm of the clock will be sounded. The staff 26 also has fixed thereon a hub 32 having a circular flange 34. As seen in Fig. 1, the hub 32 has a pair of annular grooves 36 and 38 cut therein and is also provided with a smooth cylindrical portion 40 at one end thereof. A spring member 42 is fixed to the rear frame plate l2 and has a latch lportion 4'4 on the free end thereof which is adapted to seat in one or the other of the annular grooves 36 and 38 for resiliently holding the staff 26 in either of two positions as will be readily understood.

The rear frame plate I2 is provided with an inwardly extending pin 46. A spring wire 48 is coiled around the smooth portion 40 of the hub 32 and is provided with a tail 5!] having :a loop 52 in one end thereof adapted to loosely fit over the pin 46. This spring 48 is coiled in such a manner as to allow the staff 26 to be freely rotated in a counterclockwise direction but so that it will wrap itself tightly around the portion 40 when it is attempted to turn the staff 26 in a clockwise direction.

A manually operable knob 54 is provided on the staff 26 so that the staff may be moved longitudinally between two positions as allowed by the interaction of the latch 44 with the grooves 36 and 38. With the staff 26 in the full line position shown in Fig. 1, the alarm escape wheel I6 may be freely rotated to sound the alarm when the time has come for which the alarm has been set. When the knob 54 is pushed inwardly, the flange 34 will be moved to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 so that it will be engaged by the pin 24' during rotation of the escape wheel I6 and thereby prevent further rotation thereof. The width or thickness of pinion 28 is such that it will remain in engagement with alarm set wheel 30 in either of these positions. It will be noted that the pin 24 is tapered at the end as indicated at 24'. This is done so that should the pin 24 be directly aligned with the flange 34 at the instant the knob 54 is pushed in- Wardly, the flange 34 will wedge against the tapered portion 24' and stop further movement of the escape wheel. Thus it will be seen that interengaging means have been provided for preventing the alarm escape wheel 16 from operating and for thereby stopping the alarm.

Regardless of the longitudinal position of the staff 26, the knob 54 and staff 26 may be rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed from the back of the clock, but cannot be rotated in a clockwise direction due to the locking action of the coiled spring 48. It is desirable that the alarm set wheel 30 be rotated in only one direction because the usual alarm cam construction is such that rotation of the set wheel in a; clockwise direction as viewed from the front of the clock will cause movement of the time indicating hands when the alarm let-off cam is in engagement with the member received thereby and thus bring about an inadvertent setting of the clock. The loose interengagement of the tail 50 with the pin 46 is such that the spring 48 will maintain its proper position on the annular portion 40 of the hub 32, regardless of the movement of the spring from full to dotted line positions.

Thus, it will be seen that a clock has been provided having on the back thereof only one knob for performing both the function of setting the alarm and of stopping the alarm. The term set, as used herein and in the appended claim, means the positioning of the alarm set wheel to any desired predetermined position at which the alarm will commence to function when the stop means is in a non-stopping position.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in its preferred embodiment and has included certain details, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What we claim is:

In a clock movement comprising a pair of frame plates, alarm setting means and an alarm train including an alarm escape wheel, the combination of a staff mounted between said frame plates for movement longitudinally of its length between two positions, a spring wire coiled around said staff and having a tail on one end thereof terminating in a loop, a pin fixed to one of said frame plates and extending loosely through the loop in said tail, whereby when said staff is rotated in one direction, the spring will tend to uncoil and allow free rotation of said staff but when an attempt is made to rotate said staff in the other direction the spring will tightly-coil itself about the staff and prevent such rotation, the loose fit of the pin in the loop allowing the coiled wire to move longitudinally with the staff, means on said staff operable to actuate said alarm setting means and means on said staff and said alarm escape Wheel interengageable in one Of the longitudinal positions of said staff to prevent movement of said alarm escape wheel.

HENRY S. BRAZEE. THOMAS R. CLAFFEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,050,402 Stockton Jan. 14, 1913 1,913,948 Perlman June 13, 1933 2,097,487 Kinnear Nov. 2, 1937 2,216,523 Schlenker Oct. 1, 1940 2,338,944 Junghans Jan. 11, 1944 

